Preparation of pure copper metal from copper-bearing scrap



Aug. 4, 1953 Filed June l, 1950 L. N. ALLEN, JR., ET AL PREPARATION OF PURE COPPER METAL FROM COPPER-BEARING SCRAP 4 sheets-sheet 1 CO-w l /7 dorp/0J Was/7 j my;

CoM/z tra' Ca COOL/NG &

Cu 0/550L V//VG INVENTORS` 'A oRNEY Aug. 4, 1953 N ALLEN,

PREPRA'ION oF PURE c'oPPER METAL JR. ET AL FROM COPPER-BEARING SCRAP Fild June 1, 195o Sol/d5 Feed `4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mmm/d TORNEY Aug. 4, 1953 L. N. ALLEN, JR.. ETAL 2,647,832

l PREPARATION OF PURE COPPER METAL FROM COPPER-BEARING SCRAP Filed June l, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 5cl/'ds Feed 4 each/'nj' j l f'yaof E'C//N G T Fawn/P0 5./P03 ,Q7-5 BY rap ORNEY Aug. 4, 1953 L. N. ALLEN, JR., ET AL PREARATION OF PURE COPPER METAL FROM COPPER-BEARING SCRAP Filed June l, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Cabear/'ny fees/Moef'l'af 1407/170/7/'060/ Colopef Carbana/e Patented g. 4, Y'

PREPARATION F PURE COPPER METAL FROM COPPER-BEARING SCRAP Louis N. Allen, Jr., Short Hills, N. J., and Patrick J. McGauley, Glen Cove, and Edward S. Roberts, New York, N. Y., assignors to Chemical Construction Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 1, 1950, Serial No. 165,524

(Cl. 7S-108) 7 Claims. i

The present invention relates to the recovery of copper from metallic copper-bearing materials by leaching and precipitation. In particular, 1t relates to an improved processing method whereby any non-'cuprous metals incidentally dissolved from the starting materials are quickly, simply Aand effectively discharged from the system.

In recent years the metals industries have been faced with a constantly increasing demand for non-ferrous metals, particularly copper, this has been accompanied by a decrease in the known reserves of high-grade ores and an increase m l the costs of mining and rening the lower grades.

As a result, more and more interest is being displayed in methods for recovery of metals for reuse. Not all of the methods now in use are wholly satisfactory. Especially is this true of copper recovery. t

What is probably the best current practice 1n this field is readily described. Copper-bearing Scrap is charged into large leaching vats and flooded with a dilute oxidized solution of ammoniacal copper carbonate. A portion of the leaching solution is drawn off, pumped through an oxidation tower and returned to the leaching tanks. In this manner the copper in solution is alternately oxidized to cupric salts and then returned to the cuprous condition in dissolving more cop-per. New barren solution is constantly addedto the system and the pregnant solution is continuously withdrawn. Compared to the total liquor in use, these latter flows are so small that fluid movement through or over the scrap is almost negligible.

In this treatment, not only copper but any zinc and other soluble impurities are gradually dissolved into a collective but very dilute solution. The solution rates for the various metals differ. While copper and zinc dissolve at approximately the same rate, nickel dissolves more slowly. Lead will dissolve only up to about a certain concentration which then will remain substantially constant.

After withdrawal, the pregnant liquor is given a simple treatment. Ammonium carbonate and ammonia are distilled olf and the copper recovered, principally, as impure copper oxide. The latter is collected, liquor is discarded from the system and the ammonia and carbon dioxide l vapors are condensed in water to be reused in subsequent leaching.

Such a process isextremely slow. ,Normally leaching of copper with these dilute solutions requires the metal scrap to remain in the leaching vats for at least three and often six of ymore' weeks. This excessively long leaching period requires such a large and expensive inventory of both metal and ammonia in process that carrying charges become important in the total processing cost. An excessive leach tank capacity, amount of solution and auxiliary equipment is required. The relatively dilute leaching solutions have adequate time to dissolve much of the zinc and other copper contaminants. These are later precipitated as impurities in the copper oxide still product.

Such use of the still is unsatisfactory. For example, precipitated copper oxides build up on the inner wall and periodically must be removed by hand labor. High steam requirements are an important part of the cost. The resulting impure copper product must be reduced and rened to copper metal. Any lead or zinc will be distilled off during this operation. However, some metals, nickel for example, will remain in the copper. Its removal requires an expensive separation process. Therefore, the presence of nickel or the like therein markedly reduces the value of the impure oxides. Nevertheless, the economy of still operation makes the use of dilute leaching solutions desirable.

It would seem fairly simple to increase the leaching rate. For example, it would appear to be more desirable to increase the concentration of the leaching liquor. However, if this done, the economy of still operation is radically alf.- tered. It becomes such as to offset any economic gain in the shorter time required for leaching,

There remains, therefore, a commercial demand for a process, the commercial utilization of which is not hampered by these drawbacks. One such process, disclosing a process utilizing methods which are faster, easier and more effec.- tive is disclosed in our copending applicatin for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 133,665,

` filed December 17, 1949.

In general, the process therein disclosed effec.- tively accomplished its desired object by a combination of several modications of the general practice. One comprises a radical alteration in the leaching practice. A second comprises a novel iiow system for adding and recycling lea-cliing fluid, whereby the system is maintained in material balance. A third comprises a novel now system for reducing dissolved copper from spent leach solution to a metallic copper product which is 99.9+ pure. Accordingly, the overall process of our above-noted application may be roughly divided into three parts. These are the leaching operation, the system for separating copper from the pregnant liquor, and the system for reforming and recirculating the leach liquor.

As will be shown, the principal precautions with respect to the actual leaching of our abovenoted process are preferably observed in the present invention. The remaining operations, which for purposes of illustration may be considered as constituting a series of separate but interlocking steps, are not as readily adaptedto as wide a variety of feeds as 'inight be'desire'd.

It is with improvements in these-.steps that the present invention is concerned. As such it provides an improved overallprocess.

While, as noted, our previousA process iswholly operative, it is most effective Awhen relativelyr It"will be seen that such practice would intro- `duce av wide variety of possible copper contaminants into the system. Where obtaining highg'rade copper is the 'principal consideration, it is necessary that' the non-cuprous metals be as completely separated as possible. Preferably Ytheyv should' be so far-as possible promptly and completely eliminated from the copper recovery system. AOiir'previo'us process was not readily adapted todo soif large amounts were present. It'is this object which the process of the present A`inv'e'r'ltion' is designed to accomplish.

kIn general; this' object is accomplished by "modifications of the process of? our previouslyidentified' application-` However, since the actual "leaching" operations are" similar -to that process, 'the' precautions to be""observed Vwith respect thereto will be first noted. It was therein noted, for example, that using a circulation rate'of from about 0.05 to 5.0 or higher feet per second of l'eachliquor over the' piece being leached is "markedly useful practice. Where it is possible to Y'(io'so, this'use of'forced circulation is to be pre- Y'ferred Also,"the leachingratevaries with the ,cu'pric copper content'of the liquor. At different times during a cycle this may be'aslittlel as, 20, I"or"'less,'or"as high'as 175,or"m'ore, grams-per "'jlit'er. Howeven the" initial amount preferably should beV less than about 1GO-ll() grams.

' In actual "practice the details of the leaching operation are not wholly critical'factorsin Ythe 'overall' process. Any leaching system of tanks and return flows may be used provided they-.may "use the ammoniacal' copper leachliquors of the presentprocess and provided the system provides anfadequate lsidflow for oxidizing purposes.

It is, as was noted, v'with theremainder of the overall process'that this invention is primarily concerned. Broadly, in accordance with the present invention one portion of the spent leach liquor is then treated to precipitate therefrom-so r'nuch of its copper content as will precipitate in Y Ythe. desired'degree of purity. This is collected `and washed. The residual copper solution, usually togetherwith wash watenand, if desired, an additional portion ofv spent leach liquor is then treated to precipitate all the dissolved residual copper regardless of its purity. The resultant copper-free liquor is treated to drive off the NH3 and CO2 content and precipitate the remaining dissolved metals. The latter precipitate is collected and removed fromthe system as a slurry in suiiicient water to balance the system. Enough CO2 to balance the system is driven on,

the NH3 being redissolved and recycled. In some ir'cases thejproductof the complete Cu precipita- -tion T'will-be returned directly to leaching.

In others, apartorall of it will be redissolved in the ammoniacalliquor being returned to the leachingfsy'stem. The residual portion or ow of un-treated spent-leach liquor is oxidized and re- ,fturried :to thefleaching steps.

The invention will be discussed more fully in vconjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a flow scheme of the overall system .showing the principal operations;

AFigureZ-is a more detailed Viiow scheme'of a part thereof showing one method of conducting the carbon monoxide saturation; and

Figure 3 isa similar detailedflow scheme showing an alternative method of handling the CO- ilow.

Figure 4 is a similar flow scheme showingTv still another alternative handling of the precipitation stages.

As shown in the flow scheme, copper-containing materials, usually metallic, are fed to a suitable leaching system. Again, this is preferably, but notnecessarily, the leaching system of our previously-discussed, copending application. In this step it is treated with an ammoniacal copper carbonate leach liquor for a suiiicient timeto dissolve the copper content of the feed-materials.

Spent liquor withdrawn from the leach system is' divided into several proportionedA flows.- One portion is ordinarily 'sent directly to the oxidation system .and returned to leaching as shown on `the drawing `in Figure l. The remainder,

.usuallyin two Yor more` separate operations, is

treated to recover the precipitatable copper content thereof. It isthese precipitating operations which next should be considered.

'.Another portion Yor flow ofthe spent liquor, from which a copper powder product of electro- .lyticgrade of purity is to be recovered, is treated directlyfor that purpose.

This is shown las one '.,operation in` Figure 1 to simplify discussion.

.Actually several arev involved` and they will be discussedmore fully inconnection with Figures 2, 3, and, 4. Broadly, however, in this operation the `V spent liquor is .rst caused to dissolve at least a sufncient amount and usually an excess of CO .to reduce. and precipitate the desired or ,optimum amount of pure'copper. This is done under relatively cool conditions. Heat and pressure are .then applied for the'necessary time to precipitate only. so much of the copper as precipitates in the desired degree of purity, i. e., a metallicV content ofV 99.9% Cu, or better. `This precipitated copper iscollected; washed and-dried as product.

The Wash .Waterstogether with the residual copper-bearing liquor are then treated to precipitate' .the total remaining dissolved copper. In .this treatment, shown inV Figure las complete copperprecipitation, asuilicientamountof CO is again used as the reducing agent. Illustrative methods of distributing anddissolvingCO will be ...discussed more fully inconjunction WithFigures 2,. 3,- and 4. `Provision is-made for an additional 75.portion,or.flow of .spent leach liquor to..be also sideraticn and careful control.

treated by this complete precipitation to separate out its entire copper content. l

It is a feature of the present process that while this complete copper precipitate is not as pure as the first copper product and may even be unsaleable low grade, it is a product having a much higher copper-impurity ratio than is true of the solution from which it comes and is usually more pure than the original feed. It has lost both its proportionate [amount of insolubles in the leach residue and its proportionate amount of unprecipitated dissolved metals. Like the pure copper it is collected in a solids separation operation as shown in Figure 1. It may be returned to oxidation and/or precipitation and/ or leaching in several possible ways as discussed above and as shown in Figure 1.

The residual liquor, after complete Cu lprecipitation and solids separation, is also divided usually into two flows. -One is sent to an NH3 stripping operation. The other is used to dissolve NH3 driven off in the stripping. Reabsorbed ammonia is recycled to oxidation and/ or leaching, also may be used in one or more other flows as shown in Figure 1. Stripping, which in this case is preferably done by steam distillation, usually also causes precipitation of some of the dissolved noncuprous metals. This precipitate is removed from the circuit of the present invention as a slurry in enough stripped liquor to balance the Water in the system. Some dissolved salts of non-cuprous metals may also be in the liquid discard.

It can be seen from this broad description that the essential features of the process are simple. However, there are a number of factors which enter into the overall picture and require con- The leaching question has been discussed so far as is germane to this process. y:Steps subsequent thereto, while interlocking, are subject to certain practical considerations which enter into successful operation. Particularly is this true with respect to the balancing of the circuit and the proportioning of the various flows. y

First, a suitable reducing gas must be used for metal precipitation. In the present process, carbon monoxide is to be preferred. As a source of carbon monoxide, substantially any available CO-containing commercial gas may be used. The presence of carbon dioxide or nitrogen as diluents have no adverse effect except for the necessary increase in the volumes handled. Producer gas may be employed satisfacorily and its use will be taken as illustrative. Other gases, such as water gas, reformed methane, and the like which contain CO may be used for their content of the latter.

As was noted in drawing, spent leach liquor from the leaching system is divided into different iiows which are simultaneously treated in differing manners. One portion or flow is that which is directly oxidized to reactivate it as cupric leaching liquor. This is accomplished in any standard manner or apparatus, usually by counter-current flow of the liquor and oxygen in suitable tower or its equivalent. Oxygen may be supplied as air, oxygen-enriched air or oxygen, depending on economic considerations.

The volume so-treated should be adequate for, but not in excess of, the provision of the necessary grams/liter of cupric copper after being combined with recycled ammoniacal liquor from the ammonia absorption system. As will` be shown below, this returned liquor may or may not be sent to the oxidizing tower before being used in leaching. All, or only a part, of the necessary cupric copper may therefore be provided by directly oxidizing otherwise-untreated spent leach liquor. In any case, the amount sent to oxidation will be governed essentially by the amount of cupric copper required therefrom during leaching.

One alternative flow should be noted. In some cases it may be desirable to increase the amount of liquor available for dissolving stripped ammonia. A convenient source is from this flow of fluid. It has been indicated as a dotted line in Figure 1. Ordinarily, however, this iiow will not be required or used.

As was pointed out above, the residual Withdrawn spent leach liquor is, in accordance with the present invention, divided into two or more flows. One such is treated to recover a pure copper product by partial precipitation, the other together with the washings and residual liquor after partial precipitation of copper of the first flow is subjected to complete copper precipitation. Each of these operations while shown in Figure 1 as single operations actually as was noted involves several steps. Many of these steps are common to both. These include, for example, dissolving suficient reducing CO gas; precipitating the metal; collecting the metal; separating NH3 from the liquid; recovering the NH3 and recycling the recovered NH3. These steps may be inter-related in any of several ways. Illustrative ows are shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Others may be designed without departing from the scope of this invention.

In Figures 2 4 only a part of the overall process has been set out. However, their relationship to the overall process fiowsheet of Figure 1 is believed to be quite clear. The leaching and oxidizing flows are shown as being the same. The same product recovery is shown. After the complete copper precipitation, thesteps of solids separation, solids recycling, gas recovery and recycling and discard of secondary products to balance the system may be the same as in Figure 1 so these have merely been indicated and not set out in full.

The first actual step in both the metal precipitation circuits is to dissolve CO in the liquor. `Suitable sources of CO have been discussed. In the illustrative' case of producer gas, and similar gases, there will be present, after CO absorption, hydrogen and diluent gases. Such eiiiuent gases, shown in Figurs 3, if they contain hydrogen form an excellent source gas to blanket all tanks and in the handling and drying and working up into pressed form of the pure copper product. In some cases they may also be sent to other processing steps not related to the present invention. Where only waste gases are present, they may be vented from the system. If a source of relatively pure CO is available as indicated for use in Figure 2, there may be no useful waste gases.

Actual dissolving of the CO should be carried out at a relatively low temperature. The CO is believed to be taken up by the formation of some complex metal salt molecule or ions which are fairly stable up to about 12G125 F. and comparatively unstable above about this same range. However, the process is not necessarily intended to be limited by such explanation. During dissolution there is a tendency for the temperature to rise, usually to about 105-115 F.

In any case it has been found desirable to carry out the dissolving step or steps below this upper temperature range of comparative stability.v The spent liquor should be below about 90 F.,.and

vpreferably Well below, for example .35-'7 0?.JF., if possible. Accordingly in. Figures 2- 4 provision lis made f oran optional low of all or .a .part .of this liquor .through a cooler to insure. this condition. If not needed, this .coolingistep may be omitted. However,..cooling of at least some of this liquor is often desirable.

Since the solution is ammoniacal, any eilluent -gases may contain some ammonia.. If..so, .the latter .should be .pickedup by .cold water Washing in `one ofthe absorption towers or in .aseparate .apparatus Suche step would be conventional and is not illustrated.

There is' .obviously sonierelationship .between `the amount -of CC) available for reduction, the .amount of available' coppeland thetime, temperatureand pressure of reduction. '1T-his permits some variations in nowsheet.of-theprocess. One such :variationisshown .in Figure. 2*.v In .that scheme the reducing gas .used is assumed to be CO and no effluent gases are shown.

The process, as shown .in Figure .2, is-prirnaril intendedv for .controlling .the extent of .Cu precipitation by .dissolving in the liquorV only enough CO tio `izvrecipitat'e thedesired amount .of-copper, i. e. thatcfraction' vwhich .can be .obtained pure. .A `good general practice is to precipitate about 70% Qi the tota-l available copper. However, in some `.cases a Inuchlarger fraction may be. obtainable.

In, some casesfitmay be necessary that less than,70% ybe. :precipitated in order vto ymaintain .the desired purity.. 1fv so, `this amount should .be the limiting factor. As noted, in most .cases the 7.0% limitcan be exceeded if .necessary .or so desired. Howeven since .all copper. will eventually report in this fraction, itis usually undesirable todo. iso.lt,..is..good.practce to .stay below the Vtheoretical maximum .possible for-some runs.v in `orderto insuresuccessful .careof handling of variations in flow Aratesand copper. content.

While other practices may be used if vdesired or necessary., operation .of 4the flow. shown in Figure 2 sisordinarily, therefore, based on the iactthat under properlyy controlled conditions. the liquor after CO absorption can contain cuprous copper,

.cuplic,copper, carbon monoxidaandwaterin .the correct moleratio .toprecipitate about .70% of they copper content as .99.9+% pure. copper. Ordinarily this vis about the `set ofconditions which should .besought to be maintained in practicing .this method.

Y l.Continuing with the flow of Figure .2,..pr.ecipi tation .of the pure ,copper is accomplished .by .transferring 'theA liquor to a..suitable .pressure vessel and :raising its temperature, usually :by live Vsteam injection. Indirect heatingrnayfbe used if careis taken to prevent build-up. on the coils Temperatures to above. about 150 F., .usually to about 25W-350 `F. being v a good practice. .The

.time of treatment will vary-with .thetempera'ture Preferably, also, the. pressure .vessel should .be equipped for mechanical stirring, which `Will markedly improve the rate of reaction. A fifteen .minute treatment with .agitation at about .300?. generally will constitute agood average practice. .Ordinarily `pressure is not a limiting factor and will be .that corresponding to the temperature., the latter .beingthe factor measured anticontrolled. Temperatures above rabout 350 F..1nay be used if so desired; however, .to doso .is .seldom necessary and Will ordinarlybe .found to unduly increase the Vapparatus requirements.

While the present process mayv be Y.operated batchwise, Aprecipitation .of copper. .preferably should'be accomplished ina continuous fashion.

vSteam and pregnant-liquor are.continually-.added to the vessel and copper powder slurryandspent liquor, v.continually .discharged under pressure. Under .such practice, the vellluent copper slurry'is indirectly. cooled to about .to 175 F. and the pressure thereon reduced to atmospheric.. Since there islittle ornoresidual. .dissolved CO the usual practice discussed above, `in this range .the vapor .pressure of the. liquid will .be aboutatmospheric and .this constitutes a good and generally preferable average practice.`

Metallic ,copper .is separatedfrom this slurry, then .Washed and dried.. .Preferably,.this. is done using successive .Washings withta-mmonia-.bearing liquor Water and then with Water. If so .desired it may alsobe Washed .with reagents toremove minor traces of other metals. .Finally it should be..washed Ywith water. Wet copper metal is mechanically dried .to the extent found practical, followed .by complete drying in` a hydrogen atmosphereand heating to about 400. F. -As noted above, the off-.gas after absorbingCO from producer gas or vthe. like is a good source of gas for steam-stripping and drying during these operations. .l lAfter -separatingthe pure vCu product, theresidual Cu liquor is combinedwith allof the copper washing liquors which .contain ammonia..1his With the residual spent liquor flow ,is .then .treated to precipitate all the copper',dissolvedtherein .as in Figure 1. `As shown finFigure. .2, thiszresidual Cu liquor vand any arnrnoniacal. v-Wash waters are. ordinarily sent through a coolerto .insure their being below rthe .190"v F. preferredternperature. It Imay not be necessary .to cool all of .these liquors. If, not, th e vcooler may be by-.passed for part of the Iiow as shown Ain the optional flow lines.

Since for the processoutlined in Figure 12 .only about so much CO ,is ordinarily absorbed-a5. :will precipitate the `rmre Cu. friction. .the mixture. of fiows will needfrnore- CO to lprecipitate the .residual Conner.. Together. with. the. remaining `untreated leach liquor ow they are thereforesent to. asecond CQ dissolving step, as,..sh ovv n..v At least `enough vCO to reduce the totalCu :content to vmetal .is Athendissolved therein. -fIhe CO- treated .liquor iS-thenpaSsed to @suitable pressure vessel for complete ,Cu precipit a ti o n ,Precipitation-cf this second=copperportion ma be carried out in. any :desired manner. d Probably most convenient conditions are again those :.Stt forth ,above -for the irst' precipitation. Heating ordinarily ..should continue for a considerably longer `period oftirnethan is usual for the iii-st Cu. fplfzepteiing. sten- Thereby Substantially; all of the copper will be reduced to metallic copperl It'iscollectedand recycled'ras will .be discussed. Any other, unpripitated.dissolvedmetals remain in the Asolution along vwith .carbon dioxide and ammonia. Again, a continuous @now through this circuit is preferablyrnaintained. The nextsteps are the gsarne as for the pure Cucircuit, i. ge., pressureV relief, cooling and. solids separation, Washing and drying, -as will be seen, are not necessary. 1

After theresultant .slurryhas been pressure relieved and cooled, itis passed A'to a-.solids Aseparation step such as that shownin Figure 1. vOnce the :overall 4operation is established, the` proportional flows betweenthe two. copper .precipitation circuitsshould be'adjusted to provide -optirnum economic recovery of pure copper powder.

vf the assumption -isecorrect that CO is-dis solvedfby forming acomplex-with cuprous copper salts, each mole of complex should provide CO to reduce two moles of cuprous copper to metallic copper. Therefore, it should be readily possible to cause the solution to take up more COy than would dissolve in the same volume of water and more than enough to precipitate all the copper. Since this is found to be true in the present invention, this assumption seems verified. By taking advantage thereof, another operational nowsheet may be devised. This is illustrated in Figure 3.

As shown therein, spent liquor is withdrawn from leaching, and again one part is separated, being oxidized without further treatment. The remainder, after cooling, if necessary, is again divided. One part is sent to a single CO dissolving step in which it is caused to take up enough CO to precipitate all the copper. CO-containing liquor is then divided. One ilow is sent to the pure Cu precipitating c'rcuit, the remainder to the complete precipitation circuit. Apparatus requirements of the two circuits are substantially the same. Since enough CO is present in the flow to the pure copper precipitation circuit to precipitate more Cu than the pure product fraction, other controls are necessary.

Precipitation of only the pure fraction may be obtained by controlling the temperature and/or time of treatment. However, to do so would result in CO and NH3 evolution on the pressure being relieved in order to recover the pure copper from the resultant slurry. It is best, therefore, to divert a flow of spent liquor around the CO-dissolving step to the pure copper precipitating step. In amount this diversionary ow should be enough to reduce the dissolved CO to copper ratio to that at which only the pure Cu will precipitate. The precipitate is then separated and collected as in Figure 2. The residual liquor and any washings containing copper and/or ammonia are then passed directly to the complete precipitation step rather than to a second dissolver as in Figure 2.

A number of variations in flows are possible after the complete copper precipitation. An illustrative procedure is set forth in Figure 1. narily the resultant slurry is decanted. Preferably, but not necessarily this is done continuously and under pressure. If so the slurry is again indirectly cooled and pressure relieved as was discussed in conjunction with collection of the pure copper. In any case, slurry at about atmospheric pressure and at below about 1l5125 F. is sent to a solids separation. The solids and the liquid are then treated for recycling.

Liquor treatment probably should be the first to be considered. As shown in Figure 1, it is divided into two ows. One is sent to a stripping operation and the other is used to redissolver NH3 liberated during stripping. In some circuits, depending on the available apparatus, it is possible to directly decant some solids-free liquor directly from the complete Cu precipitator. If so, it is sent directly to stripping as shown in the optional flow lines of Figure 1.

Stripping is preferably carried out in a suitable plate column, or its equivalent, at about atmospheric pressure, preferably with live Steam. Evolution of CO2 ordinarily is much faster than that of NH3. Accordingly in some cases enough CO2 can be driven off to balance the circuit without loss of ammonia. If so it is directly vented after washing NH3 therefrom. It is usually desirable not to rely on this procedure. The preferable procedure is, as shown in Figure 1, by stripping all NH3 and CO2 and redissolving the NH3.

Ordi- The remaining liquors are used for absorption. Preferably they should be cooled if necessary to below about F. in some conventional cooler. Liquor is passed through a packed tower, or its mechanical equivalent, countercurrently to a stream of the stripped gases. Substantially all of the NH3 is dissolved. However, the rates of absorption for CO2 and NH3 differ sufiiciently so that of the ammonia can be dissolved, while dissolving only about 10% of the carbon dioxide. The undissolved gases should be treated with cold water to pick up any remaining NH3, and an additional small portion of CO2 in a separate section. However, the overall result is the evolution of sufficiently more CO2 in the stripper than will be redissolved and in this way the necessary amount of CO2 is removed from the overall system to effect the material balance.

The still bottoms will. contain the residual noncuprous metals. Some, for example zinc, will be precipitated, principally as the carbonate. Some will remain dissolved. This slurry is withdrawn containing enough water to balance the various steam and water inputs and keep the material balance in equilibrium. So far as the present invention is concerned, this constitutes the principal discharge of non-cuprous metals dissolved during leaching.

Discharge from the ammonia reabsorption operation usually will be found to be at about -145 F. This ammoniacal liquor is used, if necessary that it contain copper, to dissolve all or part of the copper solids from the second copper precipitate, as shown in the drawing. However, a divided flow is shown because at least a major portion, if so desired, may be returned directly to the leaching step. This return ammonia liquor may be directly recycled with or without oxidation as shown and as was noted above. The amount to be oxidized will depend upon whether sufficient cupric copper for effective leaching is provided by the fraction of spent leach liquor which is directly oxidized.

Leach liquor which is to be returned to the dissolving tanks will be a composite made up of oxidized spent leach liquor and the return ammoniacal liquor obtained after the CO2 removal, and when used, copper-dissolving operations just discussed. These liquors either separately or, as shown, after being commingled are subjected to oxidation. Again it is desirable to operate below about 90 F. to favorably influence the absorption rates. Again since cooling is done in conventional apparatus and only if necessary, the cooler is not shown. Liquors are passed through a suitable oxidizer, usually a packed tower, countercurrently to a stream of air, oxygen, or oxygen-enriched air. Some ammonia may be driven off. If so it is redissolved in cold Waterin a separate operation and is added t0 the oxidized liquid eiiluent.

A still further variant of the overall process is illustrated in Figure 4. In that process carbon monoxide is dissolved in two stages and several possibilities discussed above are shown. The feed material is leached andpregnant leach liquor is withdrawn and a part oxidized and recirculated.` This is the same practice as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

However, the remainder of the treatment is slightly different. The remaining spent liquor is divided into two flows, one portion, usually the major portion, is treated to recover the copper content. The remainder is sent to a separate side circuit to discard anyr other non-cuprous-metals which may dissolve.

The carbon monoxide-containing liquor is subjected to the steps of precipitating-'and separating the pure copper product in the same manner as was previously discussed.` However, this circuit is especially well adapted to a maximum precipitation of pure copper. In some cases substantially all the dissolved copper in this-:iraction may be recovered as of requisite purity. Any residual dissolved copper,Y however, is treated somewhat'differently from the circuits above. The residual liquor after pure copper lremoval is divided into two portions. Onel is subjected to steam stripping in which ammonia andcarbon dioxide are driven oi and the copper content is precipitated as copper oxide. A slurry of the latter is treated to removethe solids. Any residual liquor is` discardedfrom; the system to bal-ance the Water intake. If there yis morev than is required to balance it may be recycled.

,The lother portion of theliquor-is used to dissolve the ammoniav driven oir during the stripping. operation.- As was noted, CO2 being less soluble than the ammonia,will tol/a largeA degree pass from the vabsorption tower and is discarded Yto bala-ncethe system.- The. redissolvedv ammonia is used in such amounts as necessary to dissolveV the copper oxidesl -obtained from the stripping` step. This `copper-:bearing liquor ,is recycled to .the leaching step. Any' ammoniaY liquor fnot required in the. copper oxide dissolving step `is directly recycled.

1The remaining fraction of untreated spent liquor issent toa separate carbon-monoxide saturator. -It is caused to pick up enoughl CO to precipitate all the copper, regardless of purity. After saturation the copper content iscompletely precipitated under-heat and pressure in the manner-.noted above.` vCopper is removed vand `recycled to the leaching step. Residualliquor, containing` dissolved salts ofnon-cuprous metals, is, so far as-jthe present invention -is,concerncd, withdrawn'from the circuit. This provides an additional point `of water discard as well vasre-f moval of unwanted metal salts. As in previously discussed flow systems, once equilibrium-iseestablished the twol flows-may be balancedto provide forjoptifmum recovery-of the pure'A copper product. f

`From the foregoing discussion, it will be seen that the present process involves several distinct features. They accountfor its nmarkedly improved eiciencyover suchprocesses Yas are now commonly practiced in-theart.; They include the precipitating `or only pure copper inv one circuit; the precipitation of all,A copper. to permitapurging.; and. recycling `of yprecipitated coppenfromfthe second. precipitation. iIn thisv Waythe non-cuprousl-metals are Ymore readily discarded whenpresent even, in largeamounts. Water and CO2 are eliminated to provide for materialbalance and continuous operation. There is little or no ammonia loss.

While the foregoing discussion has been principallyconcernedwith copperpall the scrap met-- als which require Vvtreatment will not .be solely copper. Some is copper clad steel. This presentsr'no diiculty as -the iron is substantially unaiected by the copper-ammonium` carbonate solution. Other metal-lic scraps may contain zinc, lead, tin ornickel, for example. Ores which contain native copper or copper `oxides and such crude commercial products vasblistercopper may also be treated if so desi-red.

As has been discussed, the portion of copper which precipitatesV between about70.% and.100 of the total copper originally in solution isv less pure thanv that copper .which precipitates at orY below about 70%: Therefore, la separation must be made whereby all of the copper precipitating` between '70% and 100% and thepure copper are kept separate. However, liquor containing this '70-100% fraction need not Ybe mixed with the untreated liquor before treatment;I For example, in batch operation the pure copper may be precipitated 'and' removed: andu the-remaining copper precipitated and removed. This'second precipitate can either be mixed` with that total precipitate from thenon-cuprous `metal purging flow or handled separatelywln'some *cases* the '70%-100% fraction after' pure copper precipitation m-ay not even be precipitated but maybe directly returned to leaching. However, this can only be done vwhen economy of operation permits suiiicient purging oi non-cuprous metals" solely by treating only one portion-to total copperfprecipitation. 1

Elimination of zinc, ii present, has been discussed. Lead, if present in theleach feed, will partially dissolve aslead'carbonate, solublein ammonia. The balance willforma sludge in the leaching tanks, along with .any tin and `rare metals. These may be recovered. fA. portion of the soluble lead will be reducedl with thecopper in some cases.` Proporti-onately, however, it precipitates very much slower than copper, so ordinarily it will not all come down'. Precipitated lead, if any, may be removed readily by la suitable reagent in the washing liquid. This may vbe la soluble ferricyanide ina slightly acidic solution, the acid being selected from a grcupwhich forms soluble lead salts. It also `may be removed with acetic acid, or a'soluble 'acetate' andan oxidizing reagent. z

Nickel will dissolve to some extent alcng` with copper and will be proportionately reduced. Like the'lead, it may be washed'ffrom the copper. It will be removed by a weakv sulfuric acid wash. Since the-latter is ordinarily used to stabilize the copper, if for no other reason,` this will be taken care of by 'normal operation.' :In 'the process of the present invention, the difficulty occasioned by nickel, cobalt and the like in the scrap is considerably reduced `at the normal operating temperature, both irl-leaching and in copper metal' production. In the present process both the leaching and the copper precipitation temperatures are well below the optimum conditions for these metals". Operating conditions are such that all the copper will be leachedbefore all the nickel or cobalt can be dissolved, except when the latter are present in very small amounts proportionately to the copper.

We claim:

l. In recovering copper metal of high purity by leaching a copper and non-'cuprous-metalbearing mixed feed with an ammoniacal copper salt liquor, and precipitating copper therefrom, the improved cyclic process which comprises: treating a iiow of leach solution at'from about -350 F. and under equivalentl pressure for suflicient time in the presence of an equivalent amount of dissolved CO to precipitate substantially all the available dissolved copper therefrom; collecting and recycling thek resultant copper precipitate; dividing the resultant copperfree liquor into at least two ows; steamstripping one of said flows, whereby-substantially all the available NH3 is removed-therefrom; discarding the stripped residue, whereby leached non-cuprous metals and water are removed from the circuit; dissolving the stripped NH3 in the second divided flow and recycling the dissolved NH3 to leaching; separately treating another flow of leach solution at about 159-350 under equivalent pressure ior a suiiicient time, in the presence of at least an equivalent of dissolved CO to precipitate not more than so much of the available copper as will precipitate at not less than 99.9+% purity; recycling the NH3 and copper content of the residual solution after said second precipitation, and collecting said second copper precipitate as product.

2. A process according to claim 1 in which a part of the rst copper precipitate is dissolved in the redissolved ammonia liquor before recycling to the leaching operation.

3. A process according to claim 1 in which the solution remaining after said second copper precipitation is treated under heat and pressure with sufficient CO to precipitate substantially all the available copper therein and the resultant third copper precipitate is recycled to leaching.

4. A process according to claim 1 in which the solution remaining after said second copper precipitation is admired with said second portion of leach solution beiore precipitating the copper content thereof.

5. In a process for recovering copper metal :from copper-bearing material in which said Inaterial is leached with an aqueous ammoniacal solution oi a copper salt and copper is chemically precipitated from leach liquor by treatment with a reducing gas; the improvement which comprises: withdrawing leach solution from such treatment, treating withdrawn solution, at a temperature not greater than 125 F., with carbon monoxide in an amount suiiicient to dissolve therein a quantity equivalent to at least a major portion of the copper content of the withdrawn liquor, and heating resultant solution to above about 150 F. under equivalent pressure for suilicient time only to reduce and precipitate copper in metallic form therefrom in amount not exceeding that which is at least 99.9% pure.

`6. In a cyclic process for the recovery of metallic copper from copper-bearing material in which said material is leached with an ammoniacal solution of a copper salt and copper is chemically precipitated from the resultant solution by treatment with a reducing gas; the improvement which comprises: withdrawing leach solution from such a leaching treatment; dividing the solution so withdrawn; separately treating at least one of the portions so obtained, at a temperature not greater than 125 F., with an amount of carbon monoxide suiiicient to dissolve therein a quantity equivalent to the dissolved copper content thereof; separately treating at least one of the portions so obtained at similar temperature to dissolve therein a quantity of carbon monoxide equivalent to at least a major portion oi the dissolved copper content thereof but not the entire copper content thereof; separately heating resultant solutions to above 159 F. under equivalent pressure for suiicient time to reduce and precipitate dissolved copper therefrom in metallic iorm; continuing the treatment under heat and pressure of both portions, the portion containing a full equivalent of carbon monoxide being treated until copper precipitation substantially ceases and the portion containing a partial equivalent of carbon monoxide being treated only for suilicient time to precipitate not more than so much copper than is at least 99.9% pure; collecting pure copper as product and collecting the copper from the complete precipitation and recycling any copper of less than 99.9% purity.

'7. In a cyclic process for the recovery of metallic copper from copper-bearing material in which said material is leached with an aqueous ammoniacal solution of a copper salt and copper is chemically precipitated from the resultant solution by treatment with a reducing gas; the improvement which comprises: withdrawing leach solution from said leaching; dividing the withdrawn solution into at least two portions, introducing carbon monoxide into solution in one of said portions in an amount suilicient only to precipitate so much of the dissolved copper content thereof as will precipitate at a purity of at 'least 99.9% when subjected to heating at above F. under equivalent pressure; subjecting said portion to said heat and pressure until precipitation substantially ceases and collecting the precipitated copper as product; combining residual copper-bearing liquor with the remaining Withdrawn leach solution; treating the combined liquors with sufficient carbon monoxide at above 150 E. and under equivalent pressure for sufricient time to substantially completely precipitate the dissolved copper content, collecting so precipitated copper and recycling any copper hav- 'ing a purity of less than 99.9 purity.

LOUlS N. ALLEN, JR.

PATRICK J. MCGAULEY.

EDWARD S. ROBERTS.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 656,544 Hirsching Aug. 21, 1900 682,232 Beck Sept. 10, 1901 1,686,391 Muller et al. Oct. 2, 1928 2,227,783 Klumpp Jan. '7, 1941 

5. IN A PROCESS FOR RECOVERING COPPER METAL FROM COPPER-BEARING MATERIAL IN WHICH SAID MATERIAL IS LEACHED WITH AN AQUEOUS AMMONIACAL SOLUTION OF A COPPER SALT AND COPPER IS CHEMICALLY PRECIPITATED FROM LEACH LIQUOR BY THE TREATMENT WITH A REDUCING GAS; THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES: WITHDRAWING LEACH SOLUTION, FROM SUCH TREATMENT, TREATING WITHDRAWN SOLUTION, AT A TEMPERATURE NOT GREATER THAN 125* F., WITH CARBON MONOXIDE IN AN AMOUNT SUFFICIENT TO DISSOLVE THEREIN A QUANTITY EQUIVALENT TO AT LEAST A MAJOR PORTION OF THE COPPER CONTENT OF THE WITHDRAWN LIQUOR, AND HEATING RESULTANT SOLUTION TO ABOVE ABOUT 150* F. UNDER EQUIVALENT PRESSURE FOR SUFFICIENT TIME ONLY TO REDUCE AND PRECIPITATE COPPER IN METALLIC FORM THEREFROM IN AMOUNT NOT EXCEEDING THAT WHICH IS AT LEAST 99.9% PURE. 